How to Extract Values from JSON and Update an XML File with PowerShell

Learn how to get values from a JSON file and update the corresponding XML structure using PowerShell in a simple and effective way.
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How to Extract Values from JSON and Update an XML File with PowerShell

Managing data in JSON and XML formats is common in many programming tasks today. Particularly, PowerShell provides a streamlined way to manipulate these data types. In this guide, we will look at how you can extract values from a JSON file and update an XML file using PowerShell.

The Problem

Imagine you have a JSON file containing user permissions for certain paths, and you need to reflect these values in an XML configuration file. The challenge lies in fetching these values from the JSON and updating the XML file accordingly.

Example JSON Structure:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this example, we want to take the values from the JSON and update the corresponding XML file’s <allow> elements that specify who can access certain modules.

Existing XML Structure:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Our objective is to replace the users attribute in the <allow> element with the values extracted from the JSON file, resulting in something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution

To achieve this, we can use PowerShell to read the JSON file, extract the necessary values, and update the XML accordingly. Below are the steps and the corresponding code.

Step 1: Read the JSON File

First, we define the JSON structure in PowerShell, converting it into a usable object format.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Load and Update the XML File

Next, we load the XML file and iterate over the location nodes, updating the <allow> elements based on the paths.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Points Explained

ConvertFrom-JSON: This PowerShell cmdlet converts JSON formatted strings into PowerShell objects that we can manipulate easily.

XPath: We utilize XPath queries (e.g. //location) to select specific nodes in the XML document for updating.

SetAttribute: This method allows you to change the attributes of XML elements programmatically.

Final Output

After executing the script, you'll find that your XML file now reflects the updated user permissions based on the JSON input. The result might look like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can efficiently take values from a JSON file and update an XML configuration file using PowerShell. This can be quite helpful when working with configurations that require frequent updates. Keeping your data synchronized across different formats is made simpler through automation with scripting!